The figure is decent. The chamber is kinda lame. It is way to small it looks like the POTF2 globe thingy with the figures. And it's be nice if it had a top, that part is fairly critical to the cahmber, but I guess that'd probably add another $5 to the price

As for it being the 500th I think they must not count repacks, which eliminates about a year of stuff and Perhaps they go by production # not release #.

Looking at the description posted along with it at SWShop.com, it looks like it indeed has a removable helmet, which is nice. Here's what it tells us:

"Hasbro has truly outdone itself with the release of their Special Edition 500th Star Wars figure, Darth Vader in Meditation Chamber. Designed with incredible detail and superior articulation, the inspired package design allows for a lever on the back to be raised to lift off Vader's helmet! The packaging actually includes some of the design features of the chamber itself, so collectors might want to grab two of these--one for show and one for play. Celebrate the return of Vader in Revenge of the Sith with this amazing milestone figure available from StarWarsShop.com today! Limit two per customer."

It's nice to see that they are including the top of his meditation chamber, but it's a little odd they way they've done it, as shown by Jeff's pic above. The clear plastic obviously obscures your view of Vader inside.

But I really like this pic, where you can display Vader with his Helmet coming off which is held by the arm above:

Nice to see more pictures of this, and to me, it looks pretty spiffy. Although I think we'd probably rather have the top of the chamber in "toy" form, instead it looks like it is part of the packaging, which is probably the next best scenario. That picture of the helmet slightly off really makes the set look cool, and I'll definitely be picking one of these up. I would guess around a $15 price tag at Wal-Mart too, give or take, hopefully .